New roles for 2 executives at Toyota’s captive

Among seven executive changes made by Toyota across its North American operations, two involve top leaders at the automaker’s captive finance company.

Effective Jan. 1, the company said in a recent announcement that Scott Cooke will be group vice president and chief risk officer at Toyota Financial Services (TFS), where he will have responsibility for risk management across the Americas region, dealer credit and information security.

Furthermore, the OEM indicated Cindy Wang will be group vice president, treasury, at TFS in Plano, Texas, where she will have responsibility for leading Treasury and Vendor Management Office (VMO) business units within Toyota Motor Credit Corp. (TMCC), including responsibilities for Global and Americas Region Treasury.

The other announced changes include:

—Susan Elkington is named Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Kentucky, (TMMK) president in Georgetown, Ky., where she will have responsibility for all manufacturing and administrative operations.

—Kent Rice is named group vice president quality at headquarters in Plano, Texas, where he will have responsibility for promoting overall North America Toyota Quality direction including Product Quality and Service Support.

—Sean Suggs is named Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Mississippi, (TMMMS) president in Blue Springs, Miss., where he will have responsibility for all manufacturing and administrative operations. He also will assume the role of TMMMS Administration vice president.

The company also highlighted a pair of retiring executives, including:

—Wil James will retire in February after completing more than 30 years of service. He most recently served as TMMK president in Georgetown, Ky.

—Bob Waltz will retire on Jan. 11 after completing more than 32 years of service. He most recently served as group vice president of Product Quality and Service Support (PQSS) in Plano, Texas. He will serve as executive adviser of PQSS until his retirement.

“These appointments will bring new insights into strengthening Toyota’s ability for more collaboration enterprise-wide, helping us respond more quickly to the market and our customers’ needs,” said Jim Lentz, chief executive officer, Toyota Motor North America (TMNA).